Each time the signal passes through a gain stage the phase is inverted 180 degrees.

My guess is that the Triaxis' Recto and IIC+ modes have a different number of gain stages, which would have them cancelling each other out when used in stereo. Thus I'm guessing he had the preamp modified to invert the signal an extra time so that the two preamps are in phase with each other.

I once ran my TriAxis stereo, into my Mesa 2:90 and my Marshall's power section simultaneously. The mids and highs were SWEEEEET but there was no low end whatsoever, I asked what gives on this forum and the answer I got was "phase cancelling", which I didn't want it to be but well, it was xD
Anyway, maybe James had the same problem if he's running the TriAxis into or with his Diezel, so he had the Phase inverted internally?

I think that James' mods on the TriAxis were probably centered around getting him that old Mark IIC+ tone he loves so much into a MIDI programmable rack preamp that he can haul... I know that the IIC+ voicing on the TriAxis has a fixed configuration of which of the tone shift knobs on the original C+ head is pulled and which is not, so he may have had that trimmed to his taste.

I mean for example if Marshall would come up with a new a rack preamp and it had a mode that is based on a JVM410 but is for example OD1 instead of OD2, I'd have mine modded to OD2 specs too if I was an endorsed artist - it's just two caps and a resistor.

Seriously though Chad could have been a little more accomodating, like a certain Mr F. Rasmussen!

I think a lot of people spend too much time agonizing over Metallica's tones. I took the approach of approximating it as a starting point then tweaking it with what works for me in my own music.

r_cod_81,

F*ck off!

Ryan.

Just kidding.
Why wouldn't someone "agonize" about getting their grail tone be it something rattling around in their head, something they heard on the radio, or at a concert? You even said yourself that you snaked his tone as a jumping off point.

I absolutely agree that everyone has a tone in their head and that you have to start somewhere in terms of "I like that sound, what hear's he/she using". I just think that when one has experimented a bit to approximate the tone's they're hearing (be they Metallica's, Nirvana's, Oasis's, Robert Johnson's, whoever's) they should then search for their own sonic identity.

With reference to this thread If you like what JH can do with a triaxis/2:90 then get your own and get your own 'signature' sound out of it.

I was just on the phone a few days ago with Mike B and John Marshall at Mesa Boogie asking the very question about this Triaxis mods. They wouldnt tell me his mod and said with respect to James we can't tell you, but o did get out of John was it is a very simple mod resistor and capacitor changes no rewiring or major work.
Just a few tweaks to the preamp he says. I am guessing at that it's the same mods done to a Mark IIC+ to make it a Mark IIC++ HET. Very nice guys to speak to think they would have spoke to me all day if they had time.

The reason his Triaxis Dynamic Voicing set to zero and his effect volume knobs set at full is because the signal comes out of the effects loop and then onto his custom eq unit, which I found out from Mike Fortin is stuidio quad pre amp with a new face plate and only the eq circuits used. It was built by his techs. It all standard Mesa parts no mods so you can build your own.
Stu

This is the back of James's rack, here you can see that his Triaxis used for his clean sound is using one of the two outputs for his signal and the next one down is his heavy tone Triaxis where the output bring used is the send from the effects loop. I have a Triaxis and a 2:90 power amp so I know the connections on the back well.
From look at schematics of the Mesa Mark IIC+ eq is after the preamp stage like the effects loop, so that is why James has his output for his heavy tone the effect send.